First of all - we no longer live on Oahu. That's right, we left paradise - and headed for another. We are now living on Maui. In a town called Kihei, down on the southeast side of the valley the runs through the middle of the island. How did that happen, are you asking? Well, I was offered a position teaching kindergarten at a school here and I took it! It was very fast and crazy - I got the job right before we left for our vacation to the mainland and then I had to report to work 6 days after we got back, with no place to live and cars on the wrong island. I told you it was super crazy. But we did it.... well, I did. It was too stressful getting us all over here in 6 days, so I went over by myself for the first week. Rented a car and stayed in a hotel room (well, at least at night) and work all day in my classroom to get it ready for my students. The one thing that didn't happen was finding a place to live. It just wasn't happening. So I went back to Oahu for the weekend, and came back Monday morning alone, again. Stayed in hotels, rented a car, and met my students. Luckily we just had orientation and individual testing, so I still had time to get my room organized, because even with all that time I had the week before it was still ...... unorganized. Found a few housing options, but hadn't made any decisions yet. The house I loved was a little more expensive than we wanted to spend, so we tried to negotiate, but it didn't pan out. Meanwhile I had another landlord calling me because he wanted us to live in his house - it was nice, a little small, with only dirt in the backyard, but he was willing to put in grass and it was totally fenced in - a big plus when you have 4 kids that are used to playing outside all day. However, it did have a studio apartment in the garage that was occupied by a single gal - less room for us and having to share the driveway, washer/dryer, water heater, etc. Anyway - that's where we ended up, price wise it was great for what we get and he threw in cable and use of his internet connection, so we couldn't turn it down. And it was in the boundaries of the school I'm teaching at, so the kids could just go there without having to do transfer paperwork (because they were to come to school with me no matter where we ended up living - benefit of being staff). So I was able to bring the big kids with me when I came back after the second weekend so they could start school - only a week late. And that week we also got the van shipped over from Oahu, so we were able to pick it up half way through the week, which was so nice. I missed my car. Then a week later Cameron and Juliana finally made the trek over and joined us. The container finally made it and now we're here - finally. However nothing is really unpacked yet. We just kind of find stuff we need as we go. The back yard is full of stacks of boxes and and bins. Luckily it NEVER rains here - we're on the leeward side here. I wouldn't mind a little rain now and then to keep the dust levels down, but since a lot of our possessions are outside at the moment I'm very grateful. And we did buy a shed to put up out there, but we haven't set it up yet. I mean seriously - when do we have time. Every weekend we say we're going to stuff, and every weekend flies by.
But overall I think we're starting to adjust. Its strangely different here than Oahu - I mean I knew it would be, but its more different than I thought it would be. But we're meeting people and making friends. We've attended the ward here (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) for a couple of weeks now and it seems like a great place to be. The kids are liking their teachers and still think it's fun to come to my room after school to do their homework (I'm thinking that will wear off eventually, but so far it's still cool). I get to see Isaac and Danielle at recess, and usually see Abi walking back or forth from her recess. Cameron and Juliana keep each other company and home and usually drive us to and from school so they can have the car during the day. However we did pick up our other car just today - it will be nice to have 2 cars again, just in case. Now Cameron and Juliana won't have to get up so early just to get us to school so that I can get things ready for my students.
Well, I guess that's it for now. Life is so crazy, like I said. But we're here, we've survived the summer and have even made it to the beach once. I know - sad isn't it.
